Key West tax return preparer sentenced for tax fraud

FLORIDA – A Florida tax return preparer has been sentenced to federal prison for tax fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida (USAO) has announced.

Abel Raphael, 65, of Key West, has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison, followed by one year of supervised release, and ordered to pay almost $150,000 in restitution for aiding and assisting the preparation and presentation of false tax returns, said the USAO.

Raphael pleaded guilty in October 2022.

According to the USAO, Raphael was a professional tax return preparer and operated Abel Income Tax Service Inc. in Monroe County. In connection with his guilty plea, Raphael admitted that he obtained an Electronic Filing Identification Number (EFIN) to submit tax returns electronically to the IRS in the names of others.

Raphael reportedly prepared the returns using false deduction and tax credit figures, then electronically filed them with the IRS.

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Matthew D. Line of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Miami Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI, Miami Field Office, announced the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore.

IRS-CI Miami and FBI Miami, Key West Resident Agency, investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Thompson prosecuted it.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 22-cr-10016.